Our History, Your Future

The Rutgers School of Arts and Sciences has deep roots. The liberal arts has a 250-year history in New Brunswick.

The School represents a tradition of liberal arts education that began in the pre-Revolutionary War era with the establishment of Queen’s College. The eighth of nine colleges started during the colonial period, Queen’s College would eventually become Rutgers University.

As it grew from a small colonial college to a major public research university, Rutgers built an outstanding program in the arts and sciences while engaging in constant conversation and reflection aimed at reaching the ideal setting and structure for undergraduate education.

By the 1970s, four separate institutions were providing liberal arts education to Rutgers undergraduates: Rutgers College, Douglass College, Livingston College, and University College. In 1982, faculty were centralized into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, but the college system continued for students, along with separate standards for admission, good standing, and graduation.

Finally in the fall of 2007, the liberal arts colleges and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences were merged into the new School of Arts and Sciences with one set of admissions criteria, graduation requirements, and a new core curriculum.

The School of Arts and Sciences brings together the talent, traditions, energy, and resources of all four colleges and enlists them all in the mission to create the best school for arts and sciences in the nation.

The classical education in Greek, Latin, physics, and astronomy that Queen’s College students received in the 18th century finds full expression today in the more than 100 majors and minors at the School of Arts and Sciences, covering the spectrum of life sciences, mathematical and physical sciences, humanities, and social and behavioral sciences.

The School of Arts and Sciences prepares students for careers in a rapidly-changing workplace, and prepares them for life in a challenging world. No matter what major students decide to pursue, they’ll study with the best faculty in their field, have ample opportunities for research, and learn critical thinking and analytical skills that will help them grow and prosper throughout their lives.

Many School of Arts and Sciences majors and joint-degree programs are nationally ranked by USA Today/College Factual:

Health Professions (#1)

Human Resource Management (#3)

Biological and Biomedical Sciences (#4)

Information Science (#4)

Cell Biology and Anatomical Sciences (#7)

General Biology (#7)

General Psychology (#13)

Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology (#14)

Chemistry (#17)

Computer Information Systems (#20)

Criminal Justice and Corrections (#21)

Journalism (#22)

Statistics (#22)

Health and Physical Education (#23)

Psychology (#23)

Romance Languages (#26)

Sociology (#26)

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, and Firefighting (#27)

Physical Sciences (#27)

Social Sciences (#29)

Mathematics (#36)

Mathematics and Statistics (#36)

Interdisciplinary Studies (#38)

Foreign Languages and Linguistics (#39)

Computer and Information Sciences (#42)

History (#42)

Geography and Cartography (#42)

Ethnic Studies (#45)

Political Science and Government (#46)

Economics (#47)

General English Literature (#48)

Anthropology (#50)

Communication and Media Studies (#50)

Many School of Arts and Sciences departments and graduate programs are ranked in the top 50 by U.S. News & World Report: